The New England Patriots missed a chance to win in overtime because of an obscure penalty. The referees reportedly had been alerted by the New York Jets prior to the game to watch for the violation by the Patriots during field goal kicks.
Jets kicker Nick Folk missed a 56-yard field goal attempt to win the game. Fortunately for New York, the drive was kept alive because of a 15-yard penalty on New England for an illegal move on the line of scrimmage. The penalty, called on Chris Jones for pushing teammate Will Svitek in to the line, led to the Jets hitting the game-winning kick a few plays later.
Though the new rule was passed this year, according to Deadspin, the referees may have been alerted to keep an eye out for the violation.
"I'm told Jets coaches did alert officials to several things to watch for (with) Pats' special teams, (including) potential FG push, before Sunday's game," NFL.com's Albert Breer tweeted on Monday. "The alignment the Patriots ran against the Jets was different, but officials were told to look for a push from New England's FG block team."
A screen shot posted by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe shows the same two Patriots players doing the illegal move last week against the New Orleans Saints. Coincidentally, Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is the brother of Jets coach Rex Ryan.
Rex was asked on Monday if he informed officials to watch for the potential violation, but he declined to answer.
"Rex Ryan won't say if he alerted officials of the Patriots' FG technique," ESPN's Rich Cimini tweeted. "Which means he did."
Rex was also coy when asked if knew the Patriots had committed the same penalty last week, to which he answered, "Let's just put it this way: we watch every play."
For his part, Belichick admitted on Monday his interpretation of the rule was wrong.
